Coach Flip Naumburg's Journal

Saturday, November 4, 2006

We will be recognized as the USLMDIA national champions at the football stadium during the CSU vs. BYU football game today, Saturday. It should be fun as 30,000 or whatever will be there. I think it will be a simple P.A. announcement during a TV commercial break. It's great, and Club Sports worked hard for this one. We are grateful for their efforts

ENEMY OF MY STATE

Things haven't been going that well in my mind lately in terms of many things, but I find myself especially off of center when looking at both the dotted as well as the straight lines that will direct the 2007 CSU team on how to stay in the middle of the lacrosse road.  Our G.P.S. needs its destination point reset, perhaps or maybe just properly set.  Right now we might be hell bent for I think dead man's curve.  All can be well, but I think I will need to find the coach inside me that is the most feeling and intuitive one of all my time.  I will have to approach this from a whole new vantage place, too.  Our make-up, field position-wise alone is strange, maybe even scary.  We are short on long poles, notoriously long on goalies, and our stock of 'stand-up' middies seems to peak and valley a lot like the old Dow Jones Industrials used to.  What is a coach to do? 

IN GOD WE TRUST – BUT SHOW ME THE MONEY

We, as group, will need much trust, but in order for me to use team faith as an asset I will need to harvest or reinvest a stack of it between now and the start of our 'killer' schedule in February.  It's not only up to them (players).  I have to get all the true believer indicators to where they need to be, and I need to get this done well ahead of when we will need the actual payoffs.

ASK NOT WHAT YOUR TEAM CAN DO FOR YOU, ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR TEAM

I may not achieve all of the goals that I have set for the time that is now until then, but if I am able to do anything it will be to kill the CLUB VIDEO that I am now watching.  That is where I will start.  It will be hard because in my mind our talent in some places drops off very quickly in certain places and or positions on this team we got here now.  However, I will not depend too lopsidedly on specific individuals. At least that is my goal.  It is too risky in many cases.  I want to be able to put anyone, and I mean anyone in the game, and I mean any game. 

This is no small coaching task, the one that lies ahead of me.  What we are doing here right now will never be confused with the process of 'reloading', that is for sure.

STUDENT STATES

I want our team to be able to rely more on the student athletes who really do manage their studies, their evenings, and their girlfriends, etc. well.   Many of them do manage to not only come to practice every day, but to bring their best with them, too.  There are those that can budget their time and do pretty much 'it all' as college students.  I've seen lots of them.  For example, rarely have I seen a goalie that could not also handle his life pretty well on top of his huge team burden.  That is at least partly because goalie is a position with huge of responsibility attached to it, and that is even before the goal tender steps between the pipes.

STATE YOUR NAME

Right now we have a few student athletes that seem to barely be able to chew gum and walk at the same time, or at least I find myself asking myself where this one might have gotten the brainpower for bipedal locomotion, because he is not fitting my student athlete model at the moment.  I am sorry, but achieving a 2.5 grade point average or so at a state university does not seem outside the capabilities of any of these fine young men I coach. That (2.5) is the minimum of what I want.  It is not a rule.  To be in good standing a student only needs a 2.0 average. My leadership is not helping some of them to get to this simple (2.5) place right now, and yes, it's got me thinking, and no, I don't like my thoughts.  It is like we have taken a bit of a step back, and that goes against my #1 personal building model in life, no matter what I am building or have ever tried to build, and that is the concept of moving "ALWAYS FORWARD.  NEVER BACK".  I will not go back to CLUB, that is for sure.  It was ugly and uninspiring.

CLUB SANDWICH

There are individuals on this team that seem to work on guidelines much closer to what I would call the 'club ball' to which I refer more than I would define what they be doing as varsity-like.  This disturbs me very much, because the only thing that can make us NOT like a CLUB, and more with the heart of a PROGRAM is people and what they do extra to make it, themselves, or the team better. 

I am not going to go their houses and get them out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to go for a run on a cold winter's morning.  That is an impossibility on many levels. We do not have time or capability to get everyone in the gym at the same time, lifting or whatever either.  Lifting weights or ladder running has to be a movement, a team progression, one that is often initially motivated mostly by one or two, but ultimately it all must get to rolling on its own, creating its own momentum, and become a moving force that will eventually help to carry the team's hopes and dreams. 

STATE THE FACTS – SOMETIMES IT'S JUST CATCH 22 AND THERE IS NOTHING TO DO BUT TO GO WITH THE FLOW

In fact, and by the way, we are not allowed by school rules to meet as a team and lift or practice or anything like that inside the CSU Recreation Center.  That facility is for individuals, not for teams  The Varsity facility is for teams, but we, of course, cannot use any varsity facilities.

THE STATE OF LOVE AND HATE

We worked with a trainer last year, and hopefully we will start with Brian again within a week or two, but again, that is only the start of what really needs to happen.  He helped our effort so much last year.  The players dreaded the work he gave them, but knew it was excellent for our team health and also the kick in the butt they needed once in a while. 

In the end, however, the players must take what is given and or spoon fed to them during the work sessions we can get with Brian, and then they must do some or even quite a bit of personal work on their own between now, and well…..the rest of their life, but the urgency for this team is between now and February.

STATE OF MY UNION

I haven't been writing that much, and that is at least partly due to the fear factor of saying what is actually on my mind.  There are many things not to be talked about at this time.  There are other things that must stay cryptically inside very general guidelines until sometime after my death. 

There are still other parts of 2006-2007 house of team that I have no finished concrete poured into for the foundation.  In fact there are no forms ready to go yet. This lack of permanent structure is especially due to some of the shattering effects of the last part of the fall season.  

There are also way too many of my thoughts floating around right now, issues that need to be settled into permanent resolution, but right now have no place like that in sight. 

I also feel like I haven't written as much of late for two other reasons.  One is that not that much lacrosse has been going on.  The other is that I seem to have misplaced my sense of humor temporarily.  I certainly hope that I can find it soon without having to do too much googling………

A POOR WORKMAN BLAMES HIS TOOLS

There are things that seem broken on our team just now, at least it seems that way to me, and they are problems that are hard to fix because they were apparently some sort of factory defect in the first place and it is maybe not that easy to throw in a new piece that works as well or whatever. 

I also have personal stuff to do, not just team stuff.  I've fallen and I can't get up, or I need a shrink, but can 't afford one just now. 

As far as the team psychosis goes, I've got chemical imbalances and work ethic questions.  Meanwhile I am wondering about my own ability to make a difference in certain parts of their lives, and I do need to affect all the parts, not just the ones between the lines. Some of my message is not getting exactly to where I want it.

I know we don't live in a perfect world.  I am not asking for one of those anyway.  I just want a chance, and right now I see my only solid opportunities will be found by going down a very limited number of available avenues.  I preach to them about making good choices and reading the situations all the time.  Well, I think that now it is my time to pay strict attention to those directives.  I think I often won't have time or opportunity for second choices and or second chances.  I will have to get things right the first time.

UP WITH YOUR INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE

I have decided that it is only great to have fun if you work hard to earn that opportunity.  I guess I no longer look at it (fun) as simply a right of playing.  Playing isn't enough for me anymore.  They have to play a certain way.  They have to have something on fire before the flame can settle itself into a waxing fun sort of place where work and light are combined.  That type of thinking will take us in one direction.  It will be a clear and right for us.  I know it down to my bones.

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